"Come on, love, it's time to wake up."

Darkness. Just darkness surrounds me.

Lightness inside me.

Nothing is everything, until everything is nothing.

"Please, Rowan. I need you." Crying. "We need you."

The nothing disappears and pain takes its place. Everything hurts. The energy inside me is on fire, and there is nothing that can put it out. It hurts, and no matter how hard I try, I can't escape, can't dose the flames that are enveloping me.

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Gasping, my eyes fly open.

There is nothing but darkness. For a moment, I think the cycle of dreams is just continuing.

But for the first time, there is movement.

My body aches as I turn my head. No matter how slow the movement, it still hurts, my nerves on fire.

A baby is next to me. Blue eyes are open as the small child, so tiny still. Their eyes fix on me, blinking in an unconcerned manner.

There must be light peeking in from somewhere, because the child is easy to make out, a soft glow seeming to emanate from them.

The baby lets out a soft coo, and the bed moves again. My eyes flicker up, noticing that me and the baby aren't the only ones in the room. A man, a beautiful one even in slumber, comes into view. He pulls the baby close to him, and the baby looks away from me, curling into the man's chest. The two seem to take comfort in each other, melting into each other once they are close enough.

Feeling someone watching me, I look up from the baby. Blue eyes, identical to the ones that had woken me from my sleep, are fixated on me.

"Is this a dream?"

Not able to respond, I just lay there, holding his eyes. The man slowly pushes himself up, the baby making a sound of distress at the movement.

"Rowan? Are you really awake?"

My eyes track him, watching as a trembling hand settles on my cheek. His fingers trail up my face, and I close my eyes. His touch is gentle as I feel him rub along my eyes.

"Please, look at me."

My body responds automatically to his command. It doesn't hurt as much to open my eyes this time, the pain seeming to slowly dissipate.

And the memories are returning. The beautiful man in front of me transforms into the love of my life, my soul mate.

"Matty?" My voice is raspy, completely impossible to make out my words, but Matty seems to understand.

He nods, a quick thing that looks like it might have hurt. A shaky breath leaves him. "Thank god you're awake. It's been weeks."

"Weeks?"

"Yes. The rains are actually spacing out. Summer will be here soon."

"What happened?"

"You don't remember?"

Despite the fact that my body is still aching, I force myself to roll so that I am on my side. Surprisingly, the movement actually helps some of the pain go away.

"I remember the ritual, and then everything hurt. Nothing else after that."

"The ritual cut the bond. But it severed all the bonds. None of you are mates anymore."

My eyes widen. "Really? I thought it was only supposed to sever my part of the bond."

Matty scoots closer to me, Elias whining again at being moved. He looks down at our baby. "Oh hush, love." He gently rubs his back, helping our son to settle, before looking back up at me. "That's what we thought too. But I guess we read the text wrong."

My thoughts immediately wander to my brother and Rosalie. They must be devastated that their mate bond is broken. It was only supposed to be me leaving, not them.

"How are Rosalie and Henry?"

"Physically? They're both fine." His lips turn down into a grimace. "Mentally, though, they are having a rough go of it." He sighs, laying back down on the bed and tucking Elias close to his side before reaching over to grab my hand. "We've been trying to find out if there is any way to reform the bond between them. Because right now, the absence of the bond is making them feel widowed."

"Shit."

He nods. "Yeah. I haven't seen either of them since they woke up three days ago. But Taylor and your parents have been keeping them to themselves. They need it, though. I've heard from Gwen that they are doing pretty bad."

"I should probably go see them," I say, attempting to push myself up, despite the aching in my body. "He's my brother and she's our friend."

He quickly reaches out, setting his hand on my chest and gently pushing me back to the bed. It isn't that hard, especially considering I am so weak, and moving too much makes my nerves flare up.

"That probably isn't a good idea." He brushes my hair out of my face, the strands longer than I remember them being. "They need time to heal without you there."

Despite how much his words hurt, I know that he is right. Sometimes space is better, no matter how much I want to check in on them.

"Okay."

Elias grumbles, rubbing his face on Matty's chest. Matty let's out a long sigh, rubbing his eyes in clear exhaustion.

Seeing his distress has me moving, pulling him close. Carefully, I help Elias to get latched. He settles immediately, and Matty looks up at me with those shockingly blue eyes of his, looking suspiciously shiny.

"I missed you," he whispers, voice scratchy. "God, Rowan, it was hell without you."

"I'm sorry," I murmur, wiping away the tears that spill over with my thumb.

He shakes his head, sniffing. "It wasn't your fault, and we both know that. There were risks that we had to face." He places his hand over mine. "I'm just happy you finally woke up."

"Me too." Leaning down, I capture his lips with mine, the kiss gentle at first before turning more heated. Matty licks along my bottom lip, and I eagerly let him in, wanting as much of him as possible. Before it can get too heated, however, I pull away.

Elias is half asleep now, eyes half-lidded as he nurses. His eyes flutter shut when I lean down to press a kiss on his cheek, breathing in his soft baby scent. He has grown so much already, and it makes my heart ache to know that I missed so much time with him already.

"I love both of you," I say, looking back up at Matty. "So much."

Matty smiles then, a soft one that portrays his happiness yet exhaustion. "We love you too."

*****

Sorry for this chapter being shorter than usual. The next one will be normal length. Life is hectic, so I don't have nearly as much time as before to write.

Thanks for all of your patience!